Trauma

"Stop! Please stop it! I'm bleeding I can't anymore! Please hold your urge else I die”

I kept wagging and turning vigorously on the bed then I sprang up from the hospital bed with horror written all over my face, traces of bruises could be seen on my lips, my eyes and my head tied with a bandage. I was having a nightmare! 

"It’s okay my dear, take a deep breath and it will be fine. You will be fine okay it's just a nightmare, you're safe now no one is going to hurt you anymore." 

The nurse tried to console me but I kept whimpering. 

“Shsssss you're safe” 

She whispered in my ears while I laid my head on her chest " she quietly injected a sleep dose in my right arm unknowingly and after some seconds, I dozed off. 

*  *  *

 My name is Rose and this is my story…

On my 16th birthday, I was preparing to sit for SSCE but I had a big problem with finance, my father is late and my mom and I with my two little siblings survive only on our farming. I work hard every day at the farm and some of the things we produce like vegetables are for sale. I had a huge body like I was a girl of about 20 years as a result of the rapid growth I had, I was only 16.

 

At the market, I always have this one man that always be waiting there before or after I come to the market for sales, parked in his car and will keep staring at me. It's been almost a month since he started with this act of his but I kept it all to myself. That faithful morning I got to the market for my usual sales, I saw a manly figure walk up to me while I was trying to arrange the vegetables on the ground where I sampled them to be sold; 

“Hello dear, how much for the vegetables? "

“It's #100 sir” I looked up to see who was talking, and behold it was him! But I decided to calm down and act as though I haven't seen his face before. 

“I planned to cook soup today but I don't know how to prepare this particular one, Can you help me with that, young lady?” 

"What kind of soup precisely? I asked politely. 

“Egusi and Vegetable soup” 

I tried to explain but I guess he couldn't understand, he had to rush over to his car and bring out a book and pen for me to write down the procedure. I wrote everything down sequentially and handed it over to him. He was looking bewildered, I guess he never expected me to be so intelligent. Hence, he paid for the entire vegetable on my table which cost #5,000 which he doubled making it #10,000 for helping him write a list and a procedure.

 

I had to thank him profusely and then he left leaving me with these words; 

“Don’t stress yourself much today, just go home when you feel tired okay? "

From my judgement of his appearance, he looked 25 of age. As time passed by, we became friends and most times he just sat by me behind my table filled with vegetables and that was when we discussed about my SSCE that was still pending.

 

He told me he would love to meet my mom at least, to meet his friend's mom. To cut the story short, he generously paid for my exams and I never knew how to thank him. When I turned 18, he asked me to marry him. 

 This was where my agony started…